Don't let negativity get you down

When an online review becomes an onLIEne review

AUGUST 5, 2013
In an age where most people basically live on the internet, online reviews are an incredibly useful thing to have. You can read the honest opinions of people just like you, who aren’t being paid anything for their thoughts, on anything from movies, to restaurants, to books, to retailers to teachers (yes, really). Then you can judge for yourself whether to give it a go yourself or not.

Of course, the system is not without its flaws. Its greatest pitfall is a lack of accountability. Since the reviewer is comfortably hidden behind a screen and an online ID, they can use and abuse online reviews for fraudulent means, and nobody will be there to ensure the authenticity of their experiences. TripAdvisor saw two of these episodes make headlines this year – ‘Oscar’s’, the divine eatery which turned out to be an empty, dingy alley way, and the glowing hotel reviews (and subsequent slamming of rivals) by Peter Hook – and these were just the ones that got public attention. Thousands such cases go unnoticed every year.

The lack of accountability of online review sites make them a prime breeding ground for malicious slander for firms in all industries, and unfortunately, deVere Group reviews are no exception. Some deVere Group reviews have been extraordinarily negative, utterly scathing, and worst of all, completely false. The anonymity of the internet wipes the writers of any responsibility, allowing them to hash out their personal disgruntlements and perceived slights against a company and doing substantial amounts of damage without being held accountable for them.

With over ten years of experience in the financial advisory services sector and more than 70,000 clients all over the world, a few libellous deVere Group reviews aren’t going to impede our sleep at night. But in an age where everyone can post about their experiences – real or fake – perhaps the best review is your own experience.

Read what deVere Group CEO Nigel Green had to say about malicious online reviews here.